CCA Calls It Quits

Published on August 16, 2002.

New York's Creative Content Artists has all but ceased operations, according to sources familiar with the situation, although it's questionable whether the company ever really got off the ground. CCA was formed last summer when Washington lobbyist David Carmen acquired the New York Media Group, including Superdupe Recording, East Side Mix, Lower East Side, Arc Light Editorial, Crush Digital and Post Perfect. Since then, it's been down hill.

Initially named Burning Suits, the company changed its name to CCA after September 11. The company shuttered Post Perfect in January as part of a reorganization that also brought all of its music properties together under the name Octopus' Garden, an entity headed by Mark Barasch, who sold his music house, Barasch Music & Sound, to CCA last fall. A mass exodus from Superdupe followed. Industry vet and CEO Steve Hendricks departed shortly thereafter, according to sources, and last month CCA sent a letter to creditors explaining that it was ceasing operations and liquidating its assets to pay off debts. At press time, Lower East Side was the only CCA property still open for business. Carmen -- who, separately from his ownership of CCA, serves as an advisor to Anonymous Content -- did not return phone calls to his office at The Carmen Group, the D.C. lobbying firm where he serves as president and CEO.